The Hobbit Trilogy: Confirmed By Peter Jackson!

Peter Jackson's upcoming saga The Hobbit will be three films, the director confirmed on his Facebook page. Previously, only a sequel had been confirmed.

He called the expansion to three films "an unexpected journey indeed, and in the words of Professor Tolkien himself, 'A tale that grew in the telling'."

"...On behalf of New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Pictures, MGM and the entire [cast and crew], I’d like to announce that two films will become three."

The first installment, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will hit theaters December 14, with the second film already set for December 13, 2013.

Jackson made no mention of a schedule for the third film, but said after watching the first and shooting part of the second, a trilogy felt necessary.

"It is only at the end of a shoot that you finally get the chance to sit down and have a look at the film you have made," he said in his statement.

"Recently I did just this when we watched for the first time an early cut of the first movie - and a large chunk of the second."

"We were really pleased with the way the story was coming together, in particular, the strength of the characters and the cast who have brought them to life."

"All of which gave rise to a simple question: Do we take this chance to tell more of the tale? The answer from our perspective as the filmmakers, and as fans, was an unreserved 'Yes'."

"The richness of the story of The Hobbit, as well as some of the related material in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, allows us to tell the full story, of the adventures of Bilbo Baggins and the part he played in the sometimes dangerous, but at all times exciting, history of Middle-earth," wrote Jackson.

Follow Movie News?

I don't know about making this book into 3 films.... At first, I was pissed that they were making 2 movies to cover this book, but then I got to thinking about the battle of five armies and the fact that Bilbo gets knocked out early on, but 3 movies is too much. I am afraid that it will be too drawn out and boring. The Hobbit is shorter than any of the LOTR books and is a self contained story. One of the things I love so much about The Hobbit is the relentless action and pace of the story. With 3 movies, it just seems like things will get boring. WTF

Fdr•August 01, 2012 13:51

Yup, totally agree with Jane. As much as it might be true about needing more movie length to cover the book, it reeks money greedy bastard scent. If the movies was like 3hrs each, ok, that a lot of content, but we all know it most likely going to be less than 2hrs, so... Back to reeking in money making scheme rather than trying to be true to the story like you fanboy hope, and yup, not going to see the movie at theatre.

Daniel•July 31, 2012 12:49

I happen to agree with Jane. If PJ cares so much about fidelity to the novel and wants to preserve every scene and dialog from the book, then why not make 6 parts, or seven? The truth is that PJ thinks only about money and cashing in is his main objective. Besides I wonder how film fans are gonna react to the changes in the adaptation because knowing PJ changes are bound to appear. Anyway, I love Tolkien's book so much that I won't be seeing these films at all.

Danails•July 31, 2012 11:03

I think I just came!! This is going to be great! ^_^

Stella•July 31, 2012 07:29

**1 movie per book**

Stella•July 31, 2012 07:28

Jane, Have you even read The Hobbit, or the LOTR series? Have you ever picked these books up? I'm going to assume no, because if you had you would understand that even 1 book per movie for LOTR was not enough, hence the extended additions of the movies, which again missed a lot of the story. The Hobbit is the longest and hardest story of them all, which means that we will get close to the whole of it in 3 movies. I was personally shocked they were going to only make 2 when I first heard that. I was shocked that they only made one movie per book for LOTR, it should have been 2. The Hobbit and LOTR are not like Twilight or The Hunger Games (granted I love THG), they are difficult, and very large stories that need a lot of time to get the whole of it. So again, don't start talking until you know the actual facts.

Harry7•July 31, 2012 00:50

Dear Jane, if you're going to make such a comment please make sure you have the right info. Harry Potter was the 1st to do so, then Twilight and THG chose to split the last movie into two.

jack•July 30, 2012 22:34

And we all have seen Rex Grossman's brilliant work right ? Yes imagine that someone in a capitalist society such as the one you all support is trying to make money.

Omar•July 30, 2012 17:02

Um Jane, you do realize that the 3rd film will include a lot of unused content from the lord of the rings, and the hobbit was a long story (not a long book a long story) that needs atleast 2 films to be told in and peter jackson wants to tell in in three so we get the full experiance

Rex Grossman•July 30, 2012 16:34

Oh wow, Jane knows a lot about the Film Industry. Is she a filmcologist? I bet she knows Peter Jackson. I do, and he's actually a money grubbing hack who releases shitty films to add on to his mansion made of golden bricks.